A week had passed since the first class.
Since then, Cecilia had tried to teach Ashen and Lena a lesson, but nothing had gone the way she wanted.
‘That commoner Ashen, just what is he…?’
In a history class famous for being tedious, he summarized and organized the material so precisely that Professor Daniel was moved.
In martial studies, he held a discussion with Professor Stephen Marshall on equal footing.
No matter how one looked at him, he did not seem like a first-year student.
Ashen alone was enough of a headache, but Lena, too, was beyond anything Cecilia could do anything about.
‘No, why is a student able to determine the size of a habitat just by looking at goblin droppings?’
She grumbled as she recalled what Lena had shown in monster ecology class.
‘It’s not as if she used to be some adventurer or soldier.’
Having unwittingly hit upon the truth, Cecilia pressed a hand to her forehead.
That alone was enough to make her irritation surge, but the peak came during the monster combat class.
Monster combat.
It was not quite like dueling against people, but it was still a field Cecilia had some confidence in.
In fact, during that class, she had instantly subdued an orc within the illusion magic, showing that she was no ordinary student.
But even her performance was nothing compared to those two.
“I’ll choose the troll.”
“I’ll choose the troll as well.”
At the two students’ actions, the professor in charge, Tracy Corbett, stroked his beard.
“A troll, you say? That will be too much for you to handle.”
“I’d still like to try.”
“I ask the same.”
At Ashen and Lena’s earnest requests, Tracy shrugged as if he had no choice.
“Well, it’s illusion magic and not the real thing, so it should be fine. Still, if it seems dangerous, say so at any time. I’ll stop the magic circle immediately.”
And so the two entered the illusion magic circle.
Looking at them, Cecilia sneered.
‘A troll? How reckless.’
A troll was a monster against which a squire-class combatant could lose their life. It was common sense that one needed to be knight-class to hunt one safely.
‘They’ll surely come out regretting it before long.’
However, her guess was soon proven wrong.
When the troll first appeared within the illusion magic, Cecilia found herself taking a step back.
Even knowing it was fake, fear washed over her at the sight of that monster’s majesty.
But before long, that fear turned into astonishment.
Though it was only illusion magic, Ashen was not being pushed back by the troll at all.
Each time his spear moved, the troll screamed, and blood gushed from its body.
The troll tried to endure with its regenerative power, but whether some sort of magic dwelled in his spear or not, its regeneration was excessively slow.
Slowly but steadily, Ashen whittled away the troll’s life.
Watching him, Cecilia felt afraid of Ashen.
In the end, the troll abandoned defense and charged at Ashen, but rather, Ashen rushed toward the troll as if he had been waiting for that.
Closing in right in front of the troll’s nose, Ashen immediately bent the trajectory of his spear overhead.
Thuk.
A stake-shaped spear pierced through the troll’s head.
Cecilia’s eyes widened at the sight.
‘To move at that speed and freely control its trajectory like that—those aren’t squire-class movements, are they?’
Even as she marveled, the fight continued.
With its head pierced through, the troll tried desperately to pull out the spear, but that was exactly what Ashen had been aiming for.
While the troll struggled to pull out the spear, Ashen climbed atop its head and opened his palm.
Then the spear, which should have remained stuck there, shot upward and entered Ashen’s hand.
Naturally, the troll’s brain, pierced through by that attack, could not remain intact either.
The troll’s massive body collapsed, and the illusion magic ended.
Seeing this, the students clapped, but Cecilia stubbornly denied it.
‘Hmph, it’s only because his weapon is good.’
Diminishing Ashen’s performance with an excuse that even she knew made no sense, she turned her gaze toward Lena’s screen.
Unlike Ashen, Lena was certainly not overwhelming the troll.
She narrowly avoided the troll’s attacks with movements that seemed like a dance, but her sword could not stop the troll’s regenerative power.
In the end, after a long while, Lena was defeated by the troll, but no one laughed at her.
If she had had a way to stop the troll’s regeneration.
Or even companions to help her.
Lena would surely have hunted down the troll.
When the two’s illusion magic ended, Professor Tracy froze for a moment and said nothing.
But only for a moment.
As the two emerged from the magic circle, he hurried over, threw his arms around their shoulders, and shouted.
“Would you two consider becoming my assistants? I’ll give you the best treatment possible.”
An offer to become assistants.
To think first-years were receiving an offer usually given to third-years.
At least in that class, even Cecilia had no choice but to admit defeat.
‘Still, there’s hope left.’
Cecilia’s eyes gleamed as she looked at today’s schedule.
Mana operation class.
It was the class she was third most confident in.
‘At least this time….’
She forced herself to ignite her motivation, but she could not feel certain.
‘This is my last chance.’
She would win, no matter what.
Steeling her wavering self, Cecilia headed for the classroom.
**
After finishing breakfast together, Senior Lena and I headed straight for the classroom.
“I’m not confident about mana operation class.”
Senior Lena muttered, scratching the back of her head as if troubled.
“You’re more of a practical type, Senior.”
Since she controlled mana in actual combat by relying on her senses, finely operating mana was probably not an easy task for her.
Senior let out a deep sigh, then soon looked at me.
“I’m less of a problem than you are. What are you going to do?”
“Who knows.”
I trailed off as I answered Senior Lena.
Senior Lena was certainly a problem, but I had an even greater one.
‘How far can I imitate mana with Red Blood?’
Until now, I had been able to imitate it by keeping Red Blood confined within my body as much as possible, but this class would be difficult to get through that way.
That meant I would have to disguise Red Blood as plain red mana if possible.
‘Can I do it?’
I had practiced a few times, but honestly, I could not be certain.
“I’ll have to try as much as I can.”
“Be careful, Ashen. Your safety matters more than getting a good score.”
“I know that too.”
As I spoke with Senior like that, we had arrived at the classroom before we knew it.
Cecilia had arrived first and was glaring at us from inside.
Frowning at Cecilia, Senior Lena whispered to me.
“Why is she glaring at us like that?”
“…Let’s just avoid getting involved as much as we can.”
The best thing to do with someone who built up resentment all on their own like that was not to deal with them.
I led Senior Lena toward our seats.
Before long, the bell signaling the start of class rang, and as light surged from the magic circle, Professor Louise appeared.
Perhaps because it was a practical class rather than a theory class, she was wearing a mage’s robe instead of the plain clothes she had worn before.
Checking the students one by one with her eyes, Professor Louise opened her mouth.
“Good to see you all again. Up until now, you have learned mana theory, so today, we will test how well you can handle it.”
No sooner had she said that than fist-sized black orbs dropped in front of the students with a pop.
“Large-scale summoning magic?”
“And she summoned them to the exact spots, too.”
I had thought I had seen just about everything, but once again, I heard the students’ surprised voices.
“Quiet. Focus.”
Professor Louise warned the students, then lifted the black orb in her hand.
“As you all know, this is a mana measuring device. It can check not only the user’s amount of mana, but also how precisely they can manipulate it. I don’t need to explain how to use it, do I?”
Saying so, she infused mana into the mana measuring device.
The black orb glowed pink, and a calm vortex formed within it.
“Now, you all try placing your mana inside and controlling it. If you control it properly, the flow of mana will form a perfect circle.”
As soon as the professor gave permission, the students began infusing mana one by one.
Most of the orbs emitted faint light, but those of a few students were shining brightly.
Professor Louise walked up to Cecilia and looked at her orb.
Inside the black orb, a blue vortex traced a path close to a circle.
“Your amount of mana is ordinary, but your control is excellent. Student Cecilia, 90 points.”
At the professor’s praise, Cecilia smiled triumphantly.
Professor Louise then headed toward Senior Lena, whose orb was giving off a bright light.
“Urgh.”
Perhaps concentrating mana into the orb was difficult, Senior Lena frowned and glared at it.
The orb placed before her eyes shone with the color of sunset, but its trajectory was not a circle. It was an irregular polygon.
Seeing that, Professor Louise’s eyes gleamed.
“A polygon. Certainly, according to ancient records, the mana of the Kurdan people draws a special trajectory. Is this the result of that?”
She observed Senior Lena’s orb for a moment, then soon opened her mouth.
“75 points. Your amount of mana is ordinary, but your control is not complete. Still, considering the Kurdan’s unique disposition, I will add 5 extra points and make it 80.”
“Thank you.”
Senior Lena exhaled deeply and stopped the mana entering the orb.
For some reason, Cecilia was wearing a triumphant expression in the distance, but there was no need to pay attention to her.
After confirming Senior Lena’s mana, Professor Louise came straight to me.
Unlike when she looked at the other students, her eyes sparkled with anticipation.
“Then shall we take a look at Student Ashen? Let’s see, hm?”
She narrowed both eyes as she looked at the black orb placed before me.
“Why is there no change at all?”
Perhaps wondering if the mana measuring device was faulty, Professor Louise took my device and infused her own mana into it.
The pitch-black orb shone pink and drew a fierce circle.
Professor Louise stared at it blankly for a moment, then soon returned the mana measuring device to me with an awkward smile.
“…It seems Student Ashen is nervous. Shall we try again?”
At her words, I steadied my breathing and sent a faint amount of blood energy flowing toward the orb.
Whether it was because I had suppressed the color of the blood energy as much as possible, or simply because blood energy was different from mana,
the orb still showed no change at all.
Seeing that, Professor Louise’s smile cracked for the first time.
“Hahaha, it seems Student Ashen is very nervous indeed. Now, breathe in and try again.”
However, no matter how many times I tried, the result was the same.
“How strange. In the first class, you gave such an excellent answer… Student Ashen. Are you perhaps feeling unwell?”
Professor Louise spoke in a worried voice, but I remained silent.
If I wanted a different result from now, I had no choice but to increase the amount of blood energy I put in.
But if I did such a thing while Cecilia and countless other students were watching me, it would be no different from revealing the existence of blood energy to Ramsay and Theodora.
‘It can’t be helped.’
Regrettable as it was, I would have to be prepared to get a zero in this class.
Just as I made that decision—
“This guy uses mana in an interesting way.”
A presence I had not felt until now was suddenly sensed behind me.
When I turned around in surprise, I saw Professor Victor sitting roughly on the desk of the student behind me.
Between his shaggy hair, which reminded one of a vagrant, his eyes, reminiscent of a magical beast’s, glowed blue.
“What is the meaning of this, Professor Victor? This is my class.”
Perhaps displeased by the sudden situation, Professor Louise demanded in a voice mixed with displeasure.
But Professor Victor raised an index finger toward her as if telling her to be quiet and stared intently at me.
“Hey, kid. What did you say your name was?”
“…Ashen.”
As if satisfied with my answer, Professor Victor bared his teeth in a grin.
“Good, Ashen. Consider it an honor.”
Placing one hand on my shoulder, he got down from the desk and stood before me.
“I’ll evaluate you myself.”
A calm voice, yet one filled with strong will.
At that voice, the entire classroom was dyed in silence.